Big Five Personality Traits and Its Relationship to Risk-Taking Behavior among Yemeni Police Officers: A Field Study in the Capital Secretariat (Sana'a)

Aims: The current research aimed to identify the relationship between the Big Five Personality Traits and Risku-Taking Behavior among Yemeni Police officers in the capital, Sana'a, and to identify the level of personality traits and risk-taking behavior among them. Methodology: The researchers adopted the descriptive research method based on predicting correlations between variables. The study sample consisted of (355) officers who were selected randomly. To achieve the research objectives, the researchers used the Big Five Personality Factors Scale prepared by Costa and McCrae in 1992 (Costa & McCrae) with 59 paragraphs and five alternatives (strongly agree, agree, neutral disagree, strongly disagree) and the risk behavior scale (prepared by the researchers) with 61 paragraphs and five alternatives (always, often, sometimes, rarely, never). Results: After analyzing the data, the results showed that the level of personality traits among police officers was ranging from average to above the average. The results also showed that the most common personality factors among police officers are (conscientiousness), (openness to experience), (kindness-acceptability), (extraversion), and neuroticism. The level of risk behavior among police officers was average. Conclusions: The study concluded that there is a significant correlation between personality traits and risk behavior among police officers. Conclusions: It can also be concluded that there is a significant relationship between conscientiousness, openness to experience, and risk-taking behavior. However, there was no significant relationship between extraversion, neuroticism and risk-taking behavior neuroticism and risk-taking behavior. The results also revealed that there was almost no significant relationship between agreeableness-acceptability and risk-taking behavior. Basis on the results, the researchers suggested some recommendations: 1) training officers on conscientiousness and openness to experience to improve performance and providing psychological support to reduce neuroticism and improve extraversion; 2) Rising salaries and providing incentives and rewards in a fair and objective manner would be a significant reinforcement; and 3) analyzing jobs to ensure that the right person is appointed in the right place.